ORIGINAL: cayugad
chapman and cayguard(or anybody)--what are your opinions of using 223gr powerbelts as opposed to using 250-300 gr bullets? do lighter rounds perform better on deer? im probably going to shoot 100gr pyrodex. most of my shots are under 75 yards. im open for any suggestions--im no bp ballistic freak.
I've yet to shoot a deer with a powerbelt of any size. I have hunted with them, but never had an opportunity. Just my luck I guess. If your shots are under 75 yards, I would shoot a 300 grains anything, like a Shockwave or even XTP and that should plant a whitetail pretty easy. The heavy bullet will blow right through and if put in the right place, excellent vital organ damage and blood trails. ALTHOUGH.. shoot what is most accurate. If the powerbelt is the most accurate projectile then use that and put it in the right place. I never even shot a 223 powerbelt. I have shot a lot of 245 grain and they shoot great. Sorry I could not help you more.
O2beBowHunting,
I agree with Cayugad, shoot what is accurate in your gun, PB, XTP, SW, SST, Barnes whatever. Shot placement kill's first, then penetration then expansion. The logic is, a poorly placed shot will not kill and poorly placed is affected by accuracy---so a 6" group leads more likely to poor shot placement, a 3" group at 100 yards leads to good shoot placement and a 1.5" group at 100 yards leads to excellent shot placement---so groups should be as small as possible given your rifle. A shot that does not penetrate adequately will NOT kill, so usuallypeopleused jacketed bullets over solid lead to compensate for that, the better the bonding of the jacket to the leadthe better the bullet holds together. A bullet that fragments CAN kill, butMAY not get into the vitals, so usually people want bullets that nearly hold their entire weight together. A bullet that does NOT expand can kill, but most people like expanding bullets since it leaves a larger wound channel, therefore more blood lost and vital organs damaged. Your looking for the "jello look" inside the chest cavity of the deer, that is expansion producing large wound channel. So putting this logic together, the higher weight PBs 338 and higherhold together better than the lower weight and penetrate better than the lower weight, but a stronger jacket on a different bullet like a 300g Gold Dot or a Nosler Partitionor a 300g Barnes or 300g bonded SW will penetrate even better and hold together better than a 295g PB. So if PBs are the most accurate in your gun, go with the higher wt PBbullets but don't sacrifice accuracy. The only place I sacrifice accuracy is bullet design, with a higher ballistic coefficient, so you get a further shooting flattershooting bullet, but I will only give up an inch for flatter shooting.Many will disagree with what I have said above because they love a particular bullet and will NOT shoot anything different, or like a particular load and will not go to loose powder, so their convictionkeeps them from finding an accurate combination in their gun.These of course are my opinions only,and are based on my experienceand reading. Chap